Now I'm not complaining - overall it was brilliant - but my recent holliers did have one or two little setbacks along the way. Wee things like getting stuck in Spain because I accidentally sent my passport back to Ireland with my brother. Or taking an illegal left turn in front of a bajillion Spanish police officers who were very pleased and excited about pulling us over. Oh and getting a mosquito bite on my face that was so enormous the pharmacist didn't know which lump was the bite or which was my actual head.
But worse of all - and if you're easily upset you should really look away now - was encountering no less than three Sephora stores in three separate Spanish towns or cities which were all blimmin' closed when I found them! Oh ladies, that really did put a dampener on things. But lookit, being the trouper that I am, I consoled myself with checking out every pharmacia and perfumeria that I found, along with a spot of duty free shopping and a quick supermarket sweep when I eventually made it from Spain to Scotland.
Best of all? I discovered a Kiko store, an amazing Italian brand that is similar to MAC but much, much cheaper, which I had to be literally dragged out of by himself. (Read more about Kiko here!)
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There I picked up two gorgeous lipsticks - a purple glossy number and a bright orange matte - along with a sparkly/matte duo shadow, an 'eye tech' eyeshadow pen (which I'll use as an inner corner highlighter), some nail polish remover pads and (best of all!) a felt tip pen for brows that I like even more than the similar Stila number I showed you here. The damage? €27.40 IN TOTAL! Amazeballs!
At Dublin Airport I replaced my favourite Illusion D'Ombre Chanel shadow, Mirifique (a black sparkly number you can check out here) and picked up a new shade, Illusoire, for good measure. At €22.80 - a considerable saving on the usual €28 - it was hard to resist; see Illusoire in action here. MAC's Blot powder in Medium Dark came home with me from Glasgow airport, for just over £16.
Other bits and bobs included a Deborah Milano high tech blusher in Rosa Pesca, a really pretty baked powder with a little shimmer that set me back around a tenner, this Schwarzkopf Got2B Powder’ful product and a Benefit-alike cheek stain and highlighter from George at Asda, £3.50 each. And, because it reminds me a little of Chanel's Le Vernis in Quartz, I also picked up an Asda nail polish called Warrior - for a quid!
Do you like to buy beauty when abroad? What do you make of my choices? And if you've tried any of this little lot, I'd love to hear what you thought!
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Heading to Spain anytime soon? Do check out the recommendations in this post.